When Luis Maza got his first call-up to the big leagues last month, one of the first phone calls he received was from Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

Maza and Cabrera talk two or three times a week, but it wasn't until Friday at Comerica Field that they saw each other at a major league ballpark for the first time.

Maza, the Dodgers' 27-year old utility infielder, said he was 17 when he met Cabrera in their native Venezuela. Cabrera was 15. They were in the town of Bejuma working out for major league scouts, with Cabrera playing shortstop and Maza second.

Maza later signed with the Minnesota Twins and Cabrera with the Florida Marlins.

"He could always hit," Maza said of Cabrera, who was traded to the Tigers in December and signed to an eight-year, $153.3 million contract extension.

Maza and Cabrera have played on the same winter ball team in Venezuela for the last three years.